Senate Republicans see Trump as a growing political liability

Senate Senate Republicans see Trump as a growing political liability Comments: by Alexander Bolton - 08/03/26 6:18 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Alexander Bolton - 08/03/26 6:18 AM ET Comments: Link copied

NOW PLAYING

Senate Republicans say they see President Trump as a growing political liability as they try to hang on to control of the Senate in the 2026 midterm elections, citing the president’s repeated attacks on their ability to govern and his refusal to abandon a proposed $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund for MAGA allies.

GOP senators also warn that Trump’s relentless demands that the Senate pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act before the election, even though it has little to no chance of becoming law, risk “demoralizing” the Republican base.

And they fear Trump’s refusal to abandon the $1.8 billion compensation fund for MAGA allies is playing into Democratic political attacks that the Trump administration is corrupt.

New polls showing Republican candidates trailing their Democratic challengers in North Carolina and GOP-leaning states including Ohio, Iowa and Texas underscore what GOP senators and the leadership see as a need to push back against Trump on key issues.

One Republican senator, who requested anonymity to discuss colleagues’ views of Trump’s sinking approval rating and his impact on congressional races, said that fellow GOP senators view Trump as a growing political liability.

“That’s the perception in the room,” the lawmaker said of the discussion within the Senate GOP conference, noting that even Republican colleagues in rock-solid red states such as Sen. Roger Marshall (Kan.) may have to sweat out close races.

Some Republican senators think Sen. Pete Ricketts (R) — who’s running for reelection in Nebraska, another farm state hit hard by the Trump economy — could be vulnerable against independent challenger Dan Osborn.

Trump won Kansas and Nebraska by 16 points and 20 points, respectively, but since then his job approval rating has steadily dropped, especially among self-identified independents, who are shifting away from the Republican Party in significant numbers.

Several other Republican incumbents face tough reelections, including Sens. Susan Collins in Maine, Jon Husted in Ohio and Dan Sullivan in Alaska, and colleagues say they’re battling major headwinds caused by Trump’s low approval ratings.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said Trump’s refusal to abandon the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund set up to pay MAGA allies who were prosecuted or investigated during the Biden administration has become a political “yoke” hampering GOP colleagues and candidates running ahead of the November election.

Tillis called Trump’s resistance to permanently quashing the anti-weaponization fund “horrible policy” and “horrible politics.”

“I want this yoke off of the members who are up for election in November because there’s no way to explain it, no way to explain it whatsoever,” he said.

“This is going to lend credibility to the Democrats hanging this on the necks of Republicans who are up in November,” he warned. “Why we’re not taking this off the table — it’s not helping the president’s popularity; it’s not helping our candidates who are up for reelection. Nothing good is coming from this.”

Tillis has also suggested that Republican Michael Whatley, who is running for Tillis’s North Carolina Senate seat, would be wise to find ways to distance himself from Trump.

“He’s going to have to have almost a perfect — 10, spot-the-landing — campaign to overcome the headwinds,” he said.

Asked if he should distance himself from Trump, Tillis said, “I don’t want him to be artificial, but if there are things that he thinks that he would do differently, I think he should have the courage to speak up.”

“If he believes, for example, the 1776 fund was a bad idea, he should speak up about it. I know in North Carolina most people think it’s a bad idea,” he said, referring to the $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund.

Tillis is retiring at the end of the term.

Ignoring the criticism from Tillis and other GOP senators, Trump on Saturday declared he would redouble his efforts to establish the anti-weaponization fund and even lean on Republican senators to pass a law to codify it.

The president declared on Truth Social that he will “push hard to get the Anti-Weaponization Bill, which takes care of those who have been so badly treated by the Crooked Joe Biden (and Obuma!) Administration (I get nothing, although I was treated horribly!), PASSED.”

Republican senators have also criticized Trump’s push to secure taxpayer funding for a new 90,000-square-foot ballroom at the White House. GOP lawmakers stripped $1 billion in funding for the ballroom from a $70 billion budget reconciliation package that the Senate passed in June.

GOP senators say Trump’s increasingly sharp criticisms of the Senate’s failure to pass the SAVE America Act are likely to demoralize the Republican base.

And they warn that Trump’s comments hinting at dissatisfaction with Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s (R-S.D.) job performance are undercutting the message to voters that the Senate Republican majority tallied up big accomplishments for the American people.

Republican lawmakers were especially frustrated over Trump’s lack of enthusiasm for the housing affordability bill they passed and touted as an important response to rising home costs.

The Hill reached out to the White House for comment on GOP senators’ concerns.

Trump has seemed ambivalent about whether Thune should keep his job as leader. Asked if Thune is the man for the job, Trump answered, “Well, we’re going to find out, and I’ll let you know.”

At a recent rally in Georgia, Trump fumed the Senate “is a place you send things when you want them to die” and warned “we’re not going to take this any longer.”

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said that kind of talk from the president when Republicans are in control of Congress “doesn’t help.”

“I’ve been out there a good bit in the various battleground states, and I think … most Americans think that Washington, including but not limited to Congress, is dysfunctional anyway,” he said. “But I don’t think it helps. It doesn’t help. And I wish there was some way to lessen the president’s frustration.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said Trump’s increasingly harsh criticism of the GOP-controlled Senate “doesn’t help.”

“It’s so unfortunate because it doesn’t help John,” she said, referring to Thune. “He has a hard enough job herding the cats that he has. When you have a president that is publicly challenging his leadership, that makes his job harder.

“And then the president says, ‘Go out and unify all of your Republicans.’ Well, sir, you have just caused greater disruption among the conference. It doesn’t help us,” she said.

Murkowski marveled at the escalating tensions between the White House and GOP senators in recent weeks.

“It certainly doesn’t give the appearance that there is good communication coming from the president and the administration with Congress, and that’s a problem. Supposedly we’re all supposed to be on the same page,” she said.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) warned that Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill, who are insisting that the Senate cancel the August recess to debate the SAVE America Act, are likely to leave conservative voters disappointed and thus less likely to turn out to vote in November.

The Texas senator singled out Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) for criticism.

“He’s demoralizing our base of voters we’re depending on in 99 days to elect Republicans,” he said.

Cornyn also expressed bewilderment over Trump escalating the battle over the anti-weaponization fund, something that will likely derail Todd Blanche’s nomination to serve as attorney general.

“I frankly don’t understand why they’re trying to escalate the fight,” he said Thursday.

Trump on Saturday said he now plans keep Blanche in the role of acting attorney general as he presses for Congress to authorize the $1.8 billion fund.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who lost his primary election earlier this year after Trump endorsed his opponent, defended Thune from Trump’s criticism.

He said Trump could play a more constructive role by helping Thune whip votes within the Senate GOP conference instead of “blaming” the Senate Republicans for not getting their jobs done.

“Everybody has to be in it together; you can’t just point fingers,” he said.

“We got things that we need to pass, like a farm bill. It would be really great if we focused on passing the farm bill. Good policy is good politics,” he said. “That’s the important thing we should all be focused on, including the president.”

Add as preferred source on Google Tags Donald Trump Thom Tillis

Comments: Link copied